Bloomfield opinion: Fair treatment for all

There is nothing happening in Bloomfield that is more pressing than all of the redevelopment projects taking place or scheduled to take place.

Coming down the pike soon will be the Hartz Mountain redevelopment, which proposes 395 rental units.

Recently, Councilman-at-Large Michael Venezia tried to stop a development at Lions Gate, the former Scientfic Glass site, through a resolution to use eminent domain. The mayor vetoed it and last week, the council fell short of the votes needed to overturn the veto.

This development is the smallest of all the developments and one that is not getting a tax abatement, which means that each of the townhouse owners will be paying property taxes based on the value of their home, not based on revenue they take in or based on the amount of apartments filled.

As a side note, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to pay property taxes based on your revenue as opposed to the value of your house? My taxes would be $700 per year as opposed to the $8,875 I actually have to pay.

Councilman-at-Large Venezia stated that there were flooding concerns at the Lions Gate development and that the town’s infrastructure needs have changed in the past 10 years since this project was proposed.

I would imagine that the "infrastructure needs" of the First and Third wards would be much more impacted by the incredible amount of redevelopment that is taking place in those parts of town as opposed to the less populated Second Ward.

Are we seeing that one part of town is getting treated differently than others? Is okay to develop in the First and Third Wards, but if it happens in the Second Ward it gets opposed with the threat of eminent domain to stop it?

Does the impact on the town’s infrastructure matter less when it takes place in the First and Third wards?

The entire town council voted on April 9, 2012, to change the zoning of Hartz Mountain from a general industrial site, which would have been home to a big box supermarket, to one that would be for three- to four-story mixed-use residential/retail buildings with approximately 395 two- and three-bedroom apartments. The resolution passed unanimously, and Councilman-at-Large Venezia voiced no concern regarding the changing infrastructure needs of the town or environmental issues.

As a lifetime Bloomfield resident, I have always detested the divide between the north and south end of town. But now we seem to have a councilman that is continuing this divide by fighting against development in one part of town (where he lives), while allowing a free for all in the south end of the town. The south end, which is the most densely populated and whose infrastructure would be most compromised is where Councilman-at-Large Venezia should place his concern.

So, as the infrastructure needs of the Third Ward will be tested with the Hartz Mountain redevelopment, along with environmental issues since it will be built on an industrial site, can residents of the Third Ward depend on those who not only represent the ward, but the entire town, to fight for their best interests, just as they are looking to fight for the people of the North End in opposing the development of Lions Gate?

Can we expect an eminent domain resolution from Councilman-at-Large Venezia anytime soon for Hartz Mountain?

The writer is executive director of Citizens for Limited Government, based in Bloomfield.

Bloomfield opinion: Fair treatment for all

There is nothing happening in Bloomfield that is more pressing than all of the redevelopment projects taking place or scheduled to take place.

Coming down the pike soon will be the Hartz Mountain redevelopment, which proposes 395 rental units.

Recently, Councilman-at-Large Michael Venezia tried to stop a development at Lions Gate, the former Scientfic Glass site, through a resolution to use eminent domain. The mayor vetoed it and last week, the council fell short of the votes needed to overturn the veto.

This development is the smallest of all the developments and one that is not getting a tax abatement, which means that each of the townhouse owners will be paying property taxes based on the value of their home, not based on revenue they take in or based on the amount of apartments filled.

As a side note, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to pay property taxes based on your revenue as opposed to the value of your house? My taxes would be $700 per year as opposed to the $8,875 I actually have to pay.

Councilman-at-Large Venezia stated that there were flooding concerns at the Lions Gate development and that the town’s infrastructure needs have changed in the past 10 years since this project was proposed.

I would imagine that the "infrastructure needs" of the First and Third wards would be much more impacted by the incredible amount of redevelopment that is taking place in those parts of town as opposed to the less populated Second Ward.

Are we seeing that one part of town is getting treated differently than others? Is okay to develop in the First and Third Wards, but if it happens in the Second Ward it gets opposed with the threat of eminent domain to stop it?

Does the impact on the town’s infrastructure matter less when it takes place in the First and Third wards?

The entire town council voted on April 9, 2012, to change the zoning of Hartz Mountain from a general industrial site, which would have been home to a big box supermarket, to one that would be for three- to four-story mixed-use residential/retail buildings with approximately 395 two- and three-bedroom apartments. The resolution passed unanimously, and Councilman-at-Large Venezia voiced no concern regarding the changing infrastructure needs of the town or environmental issues.

As a lifetime Bloomfield resident, I have always detested the divide between the north and south end of town. But now we seem to have a councilman that is continuing this divide by fighting against development in one part of town (where he lives), while allowing a free for all in the south end of the town. The south end, which is the most densely populated and whose infrastructure would be most compromised is where Councilman-at-Large Venezia should place his concern.

So, as the infrastructure needs of the Third Ward will be tested with the Hartz Mountain redevelopment, along with environmental issues since it will be built on an industrial site, can residents of the Third Ward depend on those who not only represent the ward, but the entire town, to fight for their best interests, just as they are looking to fight for the people of the North End in opposing the development of Lions Gate?

Can we expect an eminent domain resolution from Councilman-at-Large Venezia anytime soon for Hartz Mountain?

The writer is executive director of Citizens for Limited Government, based in Bloomfield.